Field Research
by Antimatter625
Summary: Akyuu heads into the underground with an escort to get some more information on the Youkai there.


_Author's pre-note: So, this story came to me a while back (It was among my very first attempts at Touhou fanfiction, though I actually went back and edited it before posting it here). I was thinking "Just how exactly does Akyuu get those profiles? It's implied in a few places that she talks to the youkai involved. Hey, that SOPM thing is going to be coming out soon... I should write a story about her going into the underground to get some data." But then I realized Akyuu's perspective would be difficult to convey, so I decided I should use another perspective character. It took me a while to settle on one, and this is the result.  
_

* * *

Well, here I am, getting ready to go into the underground. Ms. Hieda had recently heard of the youkai there and decided she wanted to add them to her chronicle. Of course, we only have vague reports from Mr. Kirisame's daughter that there is anything down there at all, so we don't really know what to expect.

So we're going in prepared. I was but one of five porters there to carry the necessary supplies... food, water, sake, paper, candles, spare charms and the like. We had three experienced youkai exterminators as well as one in training to watch over us.

Now, I've got nothing against these three exterminators in particular, but this is the first time I've ever really _met _any of the profession. They're... off, somehow. Maybe those legends about youkai exterminators becoming what they fight isn't far off. They're distant and cold... I guess they're simply that devoted to their work. Even so, the closest they ever get to small talk is envious discussions about the Hakurei girl's talent. Other than that, they mostly talk business; swapping advice about how to deal with this youkai or other, or relating past battles. They don't even do it to brag, which defeats the point in my mind.

The exterminator in training doesn't really fit in with them, and actually talks with we porters on occasion. She's a sweet girl, only recently come of age, but I don't really know what to make of her. At least she's still personable enough, so we can relate to her more easily.

Each of us among the porters had reason to join the group, as well. Two of them work for Mr. Kirisame and have been asked to inquire about his daughter. It's unfortunate to see they're still in disagreement, but at least he's trying to make amends. His daughter only rarely even enters town. Two of the other porters are among the strongest in the village, and could carry the most.

As for myself... Well, I've had a run of really really good luck. Ever since I ran across a strange rabbit in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost (Luckily, I found what i was looking for before too long and made it out alright), I've been a bit touched by good fortune: despite the numerous incidents in the human village, they all seem to pass me by. So they're bringing me along as a good luck charm. (And because they needed another porter, of course. My load's nearly as heavy as the others.)

And of course Ms. Hieda is here as well. Really, she's the reason we're all here. Apparently she has a great deal of experience with youkai herself, though she looks far less capable of defending herself than the others. She _did_ bring bodyguards, so apparently she still has some good sense about her.

Anyway, looks like we're about to head into the cave.

* * *

Well, the first few hours were rather uneventful. It was everything you might expect a cave to be, though much larger. Cold, dank, dark. Mr. Kirisame's assistants tended to our lights while we moved along, and after a while one of them fell down with a loud thump.

A few hectic minutes passed in a blur. The bucket that had inexplicably landed on the fellow's head contained what looked like a small, green haired girl, who proceeded to throw green and blue flames all around. The exterminators jumped into action and within just a few minutes had defeated the assailant and brought the situation under control. Once captured, the girl in the bucket was questioned by Akyuu, though it didn't seem to be very productive; the bucket's inhabitant just hid in her bucket the whole time.

We picked her up in hopes of having more fruitful discussions later and moved on, making camp after several more hours of travel. The poor fellow who had been hit on the head was doing alright, though his load was lightened just to be sure. All the while, the Youkai exterminators kept a steady eye on the girl in the bucket. We set watches and rested.

On my watch (The last of the "night", such as it is), I tried to engage my companion, the exterminator in training, in conversation. She must have been rather tired, as she fell asleep partway after just a few stories. I don't even remember what I babbled about, but apparently the youkai we had captured listened intently. I suspect even the more mundane tales of my existence on the surface were interesting to one who had never been there. Indeed, by the end of my shift, she had even started asking questions and explained a bit about herself.

Apparently her name was Kisume. She kept apologizing all the time, but said she was just doing her job of repelling intruders when she dropped on that fellow's head. The fire afterwards was an attempt to scare us away. She seemed to think far worse things lived further in the cave, so she really didn't want to go any deeper. What's more, she said she shouldn't leave because of some pact their kind had made, so she was stuck within this relatively small stretch of tunnel. There were others of her kind around, but we had been left alone because we had been carrying her. I still don't know if she meant they were afraid of us for defeating her or they thought that we had permission from Kisume to be here, but it seems that's why this leg of the journey had been so uneventful.

Anyway, she quieted down a bit when the others started moving around and waking up. I suppose she doesn't like crowds... or maybe the exterminators scare her. If that's the case, I can't blame her; I really wouldn't want to be on their bad side. Whatever Kisume's reason, Akyuu had a little more luck this morning than she did the first time she tried to question Kisume, so it was decided that we leave Kisume behind after she had answered a few questions for Akyuu. Anyway, it seems we're moving again.

* * *

It seems one of the porters has come down with something. It's probably the cold and damp getting to him. We decided to slow our pace and redistribute his things to accommodate him. Fortunately, Kisume's earlier victim seemed to be doing alright, and was able to take up his load once again.

Well, whatever he had, it seems to be spreading. Enough of the porters are sick that our travel is really slowing. There's talk of heading back, but we continue onward regardless. Returning wouldn't really be easier anyway, and we should have plenty of supplies. Akyuu herself is one of the afflicted, but seems confident it will pass, while the exterminators seem to think it's the work of a youkai. They think that about everything else, too, though... so I have my doubts.

* * *

It seems the exterminators were right. They came into camp with what they called a tsuchigumo as their captive. They were quite pleased with themselves, as was Akyuu. They forced the youkai to remove the disease, and sure enough, within a few minutes, everyone was freed from whatever affliction it had been.

I must say, with her restrained, she could almost have been mistaken as a human. We decided to rest again, to give Akyuu time to speak with her, and unlike Kisume, this one was far more eager to talk. I can't remember how she introduced herself, but she said something about wanting us to go back to the surface because it was dangerous ahead or something. I stopped listening around then as I had some work to do, but they spoke with each other for quite some time.

After we finished resting (It's probably not morning, really. It's hard to keep track of time down here), we let the youkai go after extracting a promise that it and its kind would leave us be. I'm not sure we can really trust the word of a youkai, especially one that attacked us in such a subtle manner, but I'm not the one making decisions, now am I?

* * *

We're beginning to think Mr. Kirisame's daughter understated the size of this cave. It's already been several days, and she gave us the impression that it was maybe a single day's journey all the way to the bottom. That's what we get for listening to a girl like that, I suppose. She probably just forgot anything that wasn't really relevant. We found what looked like a doll lying on the ground at one point, and Akyuu took it, claiming she knew the owner. This was her first trip down here, so she must be lying, but she's in charge, so the doll is hers now, I guess. It was badly burned up, so goodness only knows _why_ she wanted it...

* * *

We came to a bridge, just beyond which there was a city in the distance. It was eerie seeing what must be paper lanterns burning so deep and so brightly. At first glance, it seemed like a rather ordinary city, and far more populous than our own village... one could sense the bustle of activity even at this distance. Someone was even looking mournfully over the railing of the bridge, as though trapped deep in thought. It was a rather beautiful scene, really.

As we started to cross the bridge, however, the woman on it turned to us, making her pointed ears and youkai nature obvious by doing so. She seemed extremely bitter about something, and told us to leave.

The exterminators would have none of it though, and, as usual, managed to subdue her. She bitterly refused to answer any questions put to her by Akyuu, but we decided to rest at the bridge in any case before heading into a city full of youkai. This woman (Parsee, as she reluctantly informed us, seeming unconvinced we'd even remember) boasted that the city wasn't merely full of Youkai, but Oni.

This started an immediate conference, during which a lengthy discussion about how to deal with Oni occurred. Nothing new, really; cooked beans, hate lies, yes, yes, we know. Tempers flared up quite a bit when the time came to determine watches, and we actually had to draw straws to determine it, so heated was the argument. I suppose after sitting through a long refresher course on Oni, we were all on edge. I drew the late watch again so its another early night for me.

* * *

I fear for my life after last night's events. Hopefully if I wind up mysteriously dead, someone will at least read this.

The candle to time when my watch was to begin was long cold by the time I awakened. Suspecting that those on middle watch had fallen asleep, I got up to start mine. But they weren't anywhere to be seen. I heard some distant splashing, and a few minutes later, one of them came back. She confessed she had simply been cleaning up before bed. I asked about the others, and apparently they had all gone to bed. Feeling a little upset that she would put her own hygiene above the well being of the camp, I set out to my watch after awakening the two other porters and the exterminator in training who were to share it with me.

Of the porters on watch with me, one was a worker of Kirisame, and one was one of the strong men. They said little at first, and though I tried to make small talk, they just stared at me and resumed glaring at each other, while the young exterminator and I watched each other, a bit unnerved. Whenever we would try to talk to each other, the other porters would bark at us. I grew to envy their ability to remain quiet for so long, especially with the grim atmosphere we were camping in.

After a few hours, one of them went off towards the bridge to relieve himself, and the other followed to guard him in the meanwhile. A few minutes passed, and we heard some splashing. Worried, we decided I would wake a few others to keep watch while the young exterminator went to investigate. _I_ wasn't about to leave the camp unguarded.

After I had awakened the others, a loud scream came from the bridge. Several of us rushed to it, and found the young exterminator desperately yelling down. One of the men was floating face down in the water, while the other was clearly broken on the bank, grievously wounded.

The man on the bank, the worker of Kirisame who had been sharing our watch, had barely enough strength to utter his last words. Truly disturbing ones indeed... he said the other man had declared himself jealous of the worker's wealth and easy lifestyle, and had beaten him to a near pulp. In return, he had managed to throw the man into the water, though he overbalanced and fell in the process. None of us know how to swim, and we porters aren't able to fly...

After he expired, we retrieved the two bodies and went back to the camp. It was then that I noticed something odd about the youkai. I couldn't place it at the time, but now I know what it was.

She was smiling. A smile full of malice and spite. And she said something, too:"Perhaps you should leave us alone, now? Or would you prefer to do a headcount, first?" Her eyes betrayed some dark knowledge of what had transpired.

Sure enough, two of the youkai exterminators were missing. It was then that I realized with a cold dread just what the splashing sound after I had awakened might have been. I decided to remain quiet, lest I be targeted next.

The remaining experienced exterminator performed a few rituals to put the fallen men to rest, and we decided to press on into the city, as we doubted we had the supplies to return, to say nothing of our much reduced defenses.

Akyuu questioned the youkai in private at her own insistence, and came out rather shaken. I can only imagine that the youkai told her what I had suspected,whether or not it was the truth. We crossed the bridge with the youkai captive, but after a few kilometers, she vanished. Giving it up as a lost cause, we continued on, unwilling to rest until we had found a suitable place in the underground city.

I hope I wake up.

* * *

No deaths after awakening this time... perhaps I was simply being paranoid...

We reached the city fairly early, and indeed, it was full of Oni, as well as many other less recognizable youkai. We were viewed with distrust everywhere we went. We resupplied, though the shopkeepers thoroughly tested the goods we traded with to ensure they weren't being cheated. I suppose they're justified, especially once we heard the tales of how they came to live down here. It seems they were fed up with the dishonesty of humans, and sequestered themselves away voluntarily. Considering I suspected a murderer to be among us just last night, I couldn't fault their reasoning. Akyuu asked around and seemed pleased with the notes she was acquiring for the Chronicles, but I suspect that in her mind the cost was already perhaps too high.

We found a place to stay, having spent the better part of a day haggling and resupplying. The inn doubled as a tavern, of course, and we were informed there would be a party tonight if we wanted to join in.

We got a pair of rooms. It would have been improper for the men and women to bunk together, after all. Naturally we porters decided to head out for a drink, as we had the both time and dark thoughts to drink away.

The Oni were very accommodating, although it appeared we had arrived rather late. Immediately, the largest of us decided to jump in on a drinking contest. Apparently one of the oni was drinking everyone else under the table, and my companion took it as a challenge. And though the Oni had been drinking all night, 20 drinks later, it was still conscious (though barely so), while our companion, large though he was... well, wasn't doing quite as well.

Unfortunately for me, some misunderstanding led to the others thinking I would continue for him. Extremely worried, my opponent and I downed two drinks... before he passed out. They must not have been thinking clearly (I suspect the hours of drinking might have something to do with this.) as they then carried me victoriously to their leader for the contest to continue, despite my protests.

She introduced herself as Yuugi Hoshiguma and asked if I thought I could out drink her as well... I told her the flat, honest truth: no way. Not unless she'd been drinking at least as much as that other fellow by the time I'd gotten to him.

She laughed and shooed the other Oni out of the room easily enough once they realized that they weren't going to see Yuugi outdone.

We spent most of the rest of the "night" swapping tales. I drank quite a bit more... it's hard to say no while an oni is offering you a drink (And hells if it wasn't the best Sake I've ever had), but I think I showed admirable restraint. She seemed pleased to have the company, and for the first time in a while, I felt at ease. She may have been imposing, but she was a fine enough person. And pretty easy on the eyes, if I might be so bold.

She had a lot of interesting tales as well. She spoke of how she and the other "Devas of the Mountain" (some sort of title it seems) would push their limits every day, and wistfully spoke of her missing friends. I still don't know why she decided to confide so much in me. Perhaps because I'd probably never see her again, so she wouldn't need to worry about any awkward conversations later.

* * *

I was awakened by a _very_ angry Akyuu. she demanded to know what had happened, and I managed to stumble through the worst hangover I've _ever_ had in order to explain. Her anger seemed to burn itself out over the course of the explanation, turning into more of a grim determination. She said that she had to speak with Mrs. Hoshiguma, and instructed me to meet with the others outside.

So I left her to her meeting, and rejoined my companions... now one less. When I asked where the other porter had gone, Mr. Kirisame's surviving assistant averted his eyes in shame, while the elder of the exterminators merely informed me that my load would be increased. When I later asked the young exterminator, she gave me a much more straight answer. It took her some effort, but eventually she managed to spit it out: alcohol poisoning. I winced, knowing it could easily have been me, but said nothing, filled with guilt that we had gone out thoughtlessly like that. As far as I'm concerned, I earned that extra load.

Once Mrs. Hieda had finished, she told us we had a new destination; the palace of earth spirits; Chireiden. According to Yuugi, the youkai who lived there were rather interesting, so Akyuu naturally wanted to meet with them.

* * *

The palace was actually quite nearby, so we went there that same day. My hangover had already mostly passed, much to my relief, as my load was quite heavy indeed. While we had used some supplies, I was still carrying almost two full loads.

Akyuu knocked on the doors, and we waited for an awkward few minutes before they swung open to reveal a large bird youkai. She had a strange symbol that looked like a cat's eye (I could swear I even saw it blink a few times) on her chest, and was easily a few heads taller than anyone else here, her wings spanning an enormous field, and her cloak worn over them appearing... well, I couldn't really place it, but it was odd, with some sort of star pattern on the inside.

"Oh! Humans! I'll be right back!" she said before closing the door and taking flight so powerfully that we could hear it through the closed door. A few more minutes passed, and we stood nervously. Maybe it had been a mistake to come here?

* * *

Once again the door opened, and the same large bird youkai stood there.

"I'm supposed to say I'm Okuu, and welcome to Chireiden, and Satori extends her welcome as well... and... Actually, I think that was it. She'll be so pleased with me!" And then she closed the door and with clearly audible footsteps walked away.

We looked at each other awkwardly and discussed what we should do. After a few minutes we decided we would wait out here, and knock again in a half hour.

* * *

When the time had passed, we did so, and a few minutes later Okuu returned.

"Oh! Humans! Hold on, I'll be right back!" she said before once again closing the door and flying away loudly. We looked at each other confused, and a few awkward minutes passed before Okuu returned again. Thankfully I'd put down the pack. Might as well jot this down as well.

* * *

"Ummm... Satori wanted me to ask if you are the _same_ humans that were just here?" Okuu asked. We indicated we were, and she closed the door and rushed off before we could say anything else. Another few awkward minutes have passed so far.

* * *

Okuu returned once more.

"I'm so sorry! I was supposed to invite you in before! She's been waiting for a half hour now and you were supposed to go and she thought you were scared of her now and left and was getting sad and it's all my fault!" She nervously babbled and started to tear up. Akyuu reassured her and asked that we be taken to this Satori that Okuu kept mentioning. Tears still filling her eyes, she closed the door after us and lead the way.

She led us for a few minutes through an enormous hall. This place was titanic... it seemed it was made for giants, so oversized was everything... and so... empty. Apart from a few animals of various sorts we ran across, it was eerily quiet. At the same time, the stained glass windows seemed to be illuminated by sunlight, (impossible as that is this far underground) and made beautiful patterns dance across the floor, while displaying glorious pictures of birds and other animals in the frames themselves.

Okuu muttered something about not letting Satori see her like this and walked off after indicating the appropriate door.

* * *

This is where things get a bit confusing. I discussed it with the others later, and none of us are still sure of the truth of what happened. I apologize if this doesn't make sense, but...I wrote this part only while under our host's hypnosis, later. I've no proof any of it is true apart from her word. I had expressed interest recording the journey, and she seemed happy enough to assist me. We're nearly to leave Chireiden now, but quite a few things happened within. I remember this, though I wonder just how much I want to.

* * *

We opened the door and saw a dining room with fine furnishings. What we didn't see, was a person. The exterminators looked around, trying to detect any hidden youkai, but to no avail. The other porter and I looked around nervously, while Mrs. Hieda shouted out Satori's name, though the large hall quickly swallowed the sound. We all felt someone was watching us... scrutinizing us.

Feeling profoundly nervous, we all decided to sit down. I rested my load on the table and sat in my chair, resting my head against my arms laying on the table. I could see under the table, and I saw a young girl dressed in earthy clothes there. I greeted her, she replied and I closed my eyes, hoping to get a nap while they decided what we were going to do. After all, if this was a trap, I'd need to be as rested as I could be. We wouldn't want a youkai ambushing us out of nowhere.

The elder exterminator asked me who I had greeted, and I gestured under the table wearily. She looked, then gave me an odd look and wandered off.

I found myself unable to sleep, so after a few minutes I stood up and looked around. I saw a girl dressed in earthy clothes near the door and waved to her. She waved back... and then I noticed everyone else staring at me after looking at the door.

"Isn't it normal to greet people?" I asked. They told me no one was there, and I agreed. This did not remove their confusion. When they asked me if whoever I waved to might be the one watching us, I had no idea what they were talking about.

We continued waiting for a bit, when I noticed a girl dressed in earthy clothes rummaging through my load. I shooed her away, and she pouted as she left. I repacked the load, wondering how it got so disorganized just sitting here. I'd been careful not to let anyone else near it.

Eventually, I noticed a girl dressed in earthy clothes standing in the doorway, beckoning to someone to come. I kept watching the door, wondering when this Satori person would come, already. Since Okuu left us here, we hadn't seen anyone else, though we'd searched the room thoroughly.

"Koishi, you've been playing tricks on them again, haven't you?" a voice came in from the hall.

A girl dressed in earthy clothes (That must be Koishi), called back from her seat at the table. "I don't know what you're talking about." From the hallway, we heard a voice "I'll be with you in a bit. Please don't mind my sister."

So this Satori has a sister, apparently. I wonder when she'll introduce us. A girl in a yellow shirt and green skirt stood at the door impatiently looking into the hall.

"Please, Koishi, they're getting very confused and it's giving me a headache. Just leave them be." The voice sounded rather low on breath.

I saw the girl dressed in earthy clothes turn. That must be Koishi. I waved, and she laughed before taking a seat. A few moments later, a girl in a pink skirt and blue shirt entered the room, out of breath. She had one eye closed, and two eyes open. Her third eye rested easily near her chest, its pupil darting around. She looked somewhat familiar. Had we met before? No, there's no way... this was my first time here.

"Greetings to you. I am Satori. I must apologize for my sister's behavior. She is rather capricious nowadays... it's a rather complicated story, but I suppose it shall wait for later. Koishi, would you mind fetching the food from the third dining room? It appears Okuu lead them to the wrong one. Oh? she was distressed? That must be why she didn't enter the room with you; She must have been worried about her distress passing to me. How thoughtful. Now, what are you doing here?" She said, pausing only to take breaths.

Akyuu began: "We wish-" and Satori finished "To speak with me, yes, I know. Ah, it seems you were told to come here by Yuugi. That was good of her. Goodness knows I could always use some more company. Would you all like some tea?"

Again, Akyuu spoke: "No, we'll be-", and again was cut off by Satori, this time calling into the hallway "a cup of Sake, two of tea, two of plain water, and one of... Hmm... something exotic? Coffee, then! Oh, Coffee is a rather bitter drink, but I think you'll like it, sir." She addressed the last line to Kirisame's worker.

This time, the elder exterminator spoke: "You know, -" "It's quite rude to finish other people's sentences. Yes, I do. But if I don't do it all the time, then you'll forget that I can read your minds and you'll hate me even more when you find that out. You didn't even tell them I can? Well, good thing I corrected your oversight." She asked of the exterminator... I sat dumbfounded. She can read our minds?

Some cat youkai walked past the door with a wheelbarrow, and Satori addressed her. "Oh, you found some bodies! That'll help when Okuu heads back to the plant later. Go ahead and put them in storage." The youkai, with red pigtails and dressed in a green dress, agreed and start to move away when the young exterminator screamed.

She had seen what was in the cart. Satori's words clarified "These were your friends?"

Our friends? Surely she couldn't mean the two Youkai exterminators who had gone missing. No... of course she must, all the other bodies were accounted for. We gathered around, and sure enough, their cold, lifeless bodies, clothes and hair soaked through, lie there.

Satori must have been reading my mind, as she continued: "Done in near the bridge? Not much of a surprise, though unfortunate. Still, I'm sure you understand the situation. Orin here found these bodies unattended, so they're hers now. Well, until they get burned in the blazing hell." She then turned to the young exterminator. "Your superior recognizes her; Orin is a Kasha. She's merely doing her job. Surely you won't deny someone their purpose?" Satori said, opening her second eye briefly to emphasize the point. She then turned to the elder exterminator. "It seems you wish to fight for their bodies? Very well. I doubt it will be the penance you need, but it is a host's responsibility to entertain her guests." With that, Satori pulled out a spellcard and declared it.

So began the first proper spellcard duel I've seen with anyone from the underground. And far more than the ones on the surface, of which I've seen a few, it was hypnotic. All four onlookers watched with amazement as Satori used her first spellcard, drawing us in to the fight in a way no other had. As they fought, I recalled our trip here, the losses we had faced, and the emotions that had torn us apart near that accursed bridge. The distrust I felt towards the elder surviving exterminator and the deep feelings I hadn't even admitted to myself towards the other. All of these emotions and more rose to the surface of my mind, and overlay the danmaku that flooded the air...

Then the pattern changed; Satori's spellcard now looked very familiar indeed. After a few seconds, I recognized it as one that one of the dead exterminators had used. I was filled with anger that a youkai would use a tool meant for her defeat, but I noticed that the elder exterminator, usually so focused in combat, seemed shaken to be facing this, despite facing far more difficult attacks in the past. The pattern changed again, to a spellcard of the other dead exterminator. Satori fought with a grim resolved expression on her face, while her opponent became more and more flustered, clearly unnerved, facing the attacks of her former companions.

The young exterminator seemed to be very depressed as she watched. She must be feeling despair over watching her elder be defeated by a youkai. And defeated she was, in just a few more moments.

"Right. The bodies are ours, then. Don't forget to add them to the record, Orin. The Yama insists on that paperwork being accurate, and it's always far more difficult to fill it in later."

The young exterminator now had tears rolling down her face, and I moved toward her to comfort her over the loss of her friends, but before I reached her, she shot out of the room. The elder exterminator, meanwhile, was on her hands and knees, staring at the ground and clutching it as hard as she could, weeping for what may have been the first time in years.

Satori walked up to her "Well, it seems the little one figured it out. Do you want to explain, or shall I?"

"Please... Don't." The elder exterminator begged.

"Well, it seems you have no intention of doing so, and they really should know they have a murderer in their midst." Satori said directly, with a disapproving frown. And the elder exterminator lost it and wailed in deep despair. Could we really trust this youkai? I had suspected it, and the reaction seems to confirm it, but...

Satori spoke over the wails, with a grim, resolved, monotone voice. "She was overcome by Parsee's power. She killed the other two... one on watch with her by surprise, and the other one while she slept. She desired their belongings and knew they'd be passed to her. Parsee wildly inflated that desire, and you've seen the result." She turned to me "The splashing you heard that night was the disposal of their bodies into the river, just as you suspected." I winced as the painful truth was revealed, removing all doubt.

"I'm not sure what you'll decide to do with her. As I've said, she wasn't exactly in her right mind at the time, having been consumed by Parsee's jealousy, but there was that seed of jealousy for her to make grow.. The Yama would likely have her thrown into the fires here in the blazing hell or something similar, but perhaps atonement is still possible. In either case, she's broken now. Youkai extermination requires a certain resolve and confidence, and I've shattered those."

I suppose that's why they're always so smug and aloof.

"Indeed it is, sir. This woman has faced the worst side of herself and lost. I must accept some responsibility, as I'm the one who brought it to light, but I couldn't speak easily without that out of the way."

Satori continued speaking to me. "You should probably go support the other one. She's the only exterminator left among you, and she's dangerously close to losing her will as well. I'll only be able to guide you back to the surface, so you'll want at least one exterminator with you to return to the village. It seems you're the one who's built the strongest rapport with her, so you should go."

I humbly turned and set out after my flown companion. While I eventually found and comforted her, what that entailed is between us. When we returned to the meeting, it seemed they were wrapping up and dinner was in full swing. Not that most at the table had much of an appetite.

"And you wished to inquire about Kirisame's daughter. She is... well, a bit aggressive and greedy. But alive and well." Satori told Kirisame's assistant. "She didn't seem to think of her father at all much while here, so whatever the problem was, it's not something she dwells on every day. Orin says she's usually at the Hakurei Shrine with Reimu, so you'll probably want to go there for more information. Yes, it seems the trip there is far easier than the one down here. Though you still have second thoughts? Right, the 'youkai infestation' at the Hakurei Shrine... I suppose admitting my pets frequent the locale does little to dispel those rumors... well, do what you will. I'm merely telling you what I've heard and saw."

I wondered where the elder exterminator had gone. And, unsurprisingly, my unspoken question was answered.

"She's in a room, recuperating. She'll be a little more herself tomorrow, but I doubt she'll ever recover fully from this."

As we were eating, a worrisome thought occurred to me as I ate some of the provided meat.

"Oh, no, don't worry. These aren't any of my pets. Nor people either, no. Yes... corpses were used in their production, but more as a heat source. I've mentioned that we burn bodies... this really shouldn't be a huge surprise." Satori said. I felt what little appetite I had disappear quite rapidly after that, and stuck to eating the uncooked vegetables that were provided from then on.

Satori asked if we would like to meet Koishi, and a girl dressed in earthy clothes sitting next to her looked at her and shook her head. Satori saw this, then resumed eating.

All through this, I noticed Satori was quite tired. Upon thinking of how to ask the question, she pulled it from my mind.

"Yes... danmaku is rather exhausting for me. You haven't dueled, but it actually hurts to get hit by it. And when I hurt someone, I can feel that hurt."

Wait, does that mean that when she read the mind about the murders...

"Yes. It was extremely disconcerting. Koishi closed her eye not just to become accepted, but to hide from those sorts of emotions. That woman's murderous jealousy nearly consumed me. Indeed, when I first met Parsee... well, let's just say that I moved here soon afterward, so that I wouldn't feel quite so jealous." Satori gestured at the room in general, and it was a point well made. I hadn't fully realized the size... easily fifty meters to a side, with a ceiling too high to see. Exceptionally spacious... but rather empty. None living here would feel envious of another... but the loneliness would drive me mad.

"It's more lively than you know. I suppose lacking a third eye you might think it more empty, though."

I suppose cats are notoriously good at hiding, and who knows how many bats or ravens might be perched in rafters above us?

"About two dozen of each. I'm rather surprised at you four. You're quite unlike most. Even Oni tend to shun me... they may dislike dishonesty, but they still practice it without realizing so. And I reveal that, show them how they themselves pervert their very ideals." Satori's voice started to tremble a little. "If possible, perhaps you could come again in the future?"

Looking at my companions... Ms. Hieda, one porter, and the young exterminator, the answer seemed self-evident.

"No...? No, I suppose not. It's far too dangerous of a trek, isn't it? Well, I appreciate the company... and you're welcome to stay for as long as you'd like..." Satori seemed hopeful... almost desperate. But between the dangers we had yet to face and the dark truths that had been revealed here, perhaps we shouldn't linger.

"Just tonight? Of course you want to get back as soon as possible... I'll send Orin and Okuu with you to make sure you get out safely." Satori's noble resolve seemed to be fading away rapidly. She excused herself and left the room.

We finished eating and some animals came by. With unusual grace and interesting maneuvers, they started clearing the table. The Kasha from earlier stood in the doorway and beckoned for us to follow. We did so, and were shown to our individual five rooms. I suppose I was lucky that I got the room furthest from our fifth companion, as I could still hear the wails in the hall, while the door to my room mercifully silenced them.

* * *

I was awakened from my sleep by a girl dressed in earthy clothes. I wonder when she got in here. For that matter, _why_ she was here. She just stared quietly at me for a while... her stare was unnerving. Even while looking at her, something seemed off... She looked familiar. Had I seen her before? Actually, looking closer, I saw that she, too had a third eye, though hers appeared to be closed. Could this be Satori's sister?

Weren't we talking about her having a sister? Yes, it must be her. What is she doing here? Why won't she stop staring? She's not saying anything. Can she read my thoughts? If so, she's being a lot more subtle about it. I finally decided to break the awkward silence.

"Why... are you in my room?"

"Why do you think a girl would sneak into a fellow's room late at night?" Upon hearing this, I suspect my face turned red, as I found my thoughts couldn't help but move towards the obvious. I really hoped she couldn't read my thoughts, then, as they weren't entirely... respectful. A few awkward moments passed, but her stare had hardly even changed. Eventually, my thoughts settled down a little, and I was able to think more coherently; though my mind felt as though it were a bird fighting against a windstorm. Still, I realized that she didn't seem to understand just what she had implied.

How should I answer her question? If she didn't know what she had implied, then should I inform her? She didn't look very old, but I've heard the appearance of a youkai is somewhat independent of age. If she _did_ know what she had implied, then explaining would kill the mood. Wait, what mood? Wouldn't it be rude to Satori to sleep with her sister after just meeting her? Why am I even thinking about sleeping with her? I just met her, and she looks so young.

"I guess you don't know either, huh? Oh well." Without my noticing, she had already rummaged through my things, and over half of them lay strewn about in a messy heap. Wait, so she hadn't known? But it seemed like she did... perhaps I had just been hoping she did?

"Could you please stop going through my things?"

"Sure. But you'll need to find some other way to keep me entertained." There it was again!? She must have come here for... well, I guess she's not too bad. But really, we just met...

"I'm sorry, but you'll have to talk to someone else for that. I just don't think it would be right. I mean, we just met, and I don't want to anger our hostess."

"What makes you think big sis would be angry? I'm just looking for some company to pass the night. I just can't sleep tonight, so I was looking for something to keep me busy," she said. I couldn't believe it.

"Well, look, I'm really not in the mood..." I said, awkwardly. I don't think it came out entirely convincingly. She lifted an eyebrow and my heart flared. My breathing had deepened, and my mind continued to be spun around.

"Come on, It's been so long since I've done it with anyone other than my sister." Whelp, that's that. My mind had completely flown. She reached into her shirt, and, well...

Suffice it to say, I lost soundly at the games of cards we played.

* * *

We met Satori in the morning, and she greeted us.

"You seem tired. Did you not rest well?" She asked, and I've no doubt she stole the rather questionable thoughts I'd had the previous night from my head, and I felt my face flush.

"No, don't worry about it. It seems my sister has that effect on many people... She has the ability to read and manipulate the subconscious. She plays with emotions and inhibitions a great deal." Satori let out a sigh of despair. "I had intended to warn you, but it slipped my mind. She often does, unfortunately. I've started preparing one extra portion than I think I'd need for dinner. I'm pretty sure she eats it..."

Satori seemed something between flustered and in despair as she continued. "Koishi... leaves me conflicted. She's my sister, and I love her. But she is selfish. Crippling herself like that... how dare she take the easy way out!" Satori cried out. Just as suddenly as she had become angry, that anger almost immediately transformed into resignation and pity.

"She didn't even think it through, and now she's a cripple I have to care for. And I do, but... she just doesn't think of others. I'm beginning to think she _can't_ think of others. I've been trying to get her to open up, but I've hardly seen any progress. Maybe I'm just as blind to it as I am to her." Satori's gaze drifted toward the ceiling, her third eye seemed half- asleep, its eyelid drooping, and its iris and pupil rolling upward. I stood quietly so as not to disturb her.

"Why won't she listen? Nothing gets through to her! Even thinking about her is hard. She's so busy living in the moment that she doesn't bother learning and changing for the better. Learning, knowledge, enlightenment, truth seeking. This is what satori are supposed to embody! And she just threw it all away. It's hard to think of nobody, so I have to remember her as my sister. If I forget her completely, she'll be gone, beyond even death, and she doesn't even realize it, so she keeps trying to make me forget. Everyday I fight to keep her alive, but she won't have any of it!" Satori's voice, though it remained rather quiet, had grown forceful and direct. I suppose this is what her yell sounded like.

I interjected: "Perhaps she's simply come to accept her disappearance?" I knew something was strange... I'd actually voiced the question aloud before she answered it.

"Of course she has! That's the problem. She doesn't care about anything... her life, her death, her sister, her duties, her self. Koishi just does what she does, when she does, with no reason behind it. She's fallen so far. She abandoned her enlightenment entirely, and so has fallen below even humans. She's little more than an animal now." Satori was suddenly angry, her third eye focused and darting around.

For all she talks about Koishi's selfishness, Satori sure seems to care more about how her sister's transformation effected Satori. Isn't that even more selfish?

Satori's third eye focused it's gaze on me, and Satori's anger seemed to redirect itself towards me. She walked towards me, slowly but purposefully. For the first time since I'd met her, I felt truly afraid. I knew I had no chance of fighting back against her, so I cringed and closed my eyes, bracing myself the worst.

But it never came. When I opened my eyes, I saw Satori on her knees, hands on the ground, sobbing. Confused, I stood still.

"I'm sorry! I'm a terrible host... You're in my abode, so you should feel welcome. But your fear... you thought I was going to..." Satori choked out between sobs.

I moved to comfort her, but she raised her hand to stop me, and stood on her own and faced away from me. Was it her pride, or...?

"Oh... I'm sorry we've awakened you..." Satori spoke over her shoulder as she stood. I looked behind me and saw our young youkai exterminator. Satori took a few deep breaths and wiped her eyes with her sleeves before turning back, her eyes looking around fiercely for something. It seems her rage had returned, but was now focused on something other than myself. Remembering what it had felt like to fall under her three eyed gaze, I pitied whoever she was looking for.

"There's no need to pity her..." Satori spoke, before making some sort of signal to the young exterminator. They quickly leapt into action, and after a flurry of motion, the laughter stopped, and the girl dressed in earthy clothes was sitting on the floor, pouting, bound by several charms. The young exterminator turned to Satori.

"How did you-"

"I can't believe you still need to ask. You came out, fearing a youkai attack. You only saw me standing passively, so you suspected someone invisible. I'd noticed Koishi's influence, and gave you the signal you were expecting to deal with an invisible youkai. That you were expecting it from your superior makes little difference to me, and apparently little enough to you."

The young exterminator had no words to say... and given Satori's unusual silence, was likely too stunned to even think of any before she left the hall to look in on her surviving mentor.

Satori glared at her sister. "I thought your influence was here. Do you not think we're hated enough already? Did you really need to make me such a poor host?"

Koishi said something apologetic, but it was clearly insincere, as she kept pouting, now that her fun had been ruined. She added something about it being fun watching people lose control like that.

"You shouldn't be so rude to guests, Koishi! And you snuck into their rooms late at night? That's a terrible invasion of privacy!"

Well, it's really not much worse than reading our minds without permission, now is it? I thought, sarcastically. Satori turned towards me and sighed, having lost her momentum.

"This man makes a good point. There are some differences... I can't _not_ look into their minds, but you _can_ not go in their rooms." Satori said. I didn't buy it. If Koishi was as animal-like as Satori had said, following her instincts, then perhaps Koishi literally couldn't restrain her curiosity... I've known too many cats that simply couldn't resist a curiosity. Satori gave a pointed look towards me, then turned her attention back towards Koishi.

"Fine, I'll just have to get better locks in the future. If you can't show restraint, then I'll just have to restrict your movements, won't I?"

I began to understand just what Satori was talking about when she mentioned difficulties in dealing with Koishi. After all, putting better locks on doors wouldn't work because if she wanted in, she could just make someone forget to lock it, or even get up while half or fully asleep and unlock it for her. Would she even notice it was locked? Would she do any of this consciously? Could she _avoid_ doing any of it? The more I thought on it, Koishi was impossible to truly cage. She was a force of nature at least as much as the god of wind, or the fairy of ice. A force of human nature, perhaps.

Satori looked at me, and seemed far more exhausted than I had initially judged. Her drooping eyelids no longer seemed smug or confident, but simply... tired. She had played the part of the warden over her sister's insecure prison. She fed, taught, and tried to redeem and set free the prisoner who was trapped within herself, yet resisted confinement.

And Satori would have to do it alone, for she alone cared what happened to her sister. Were I a poet, perhaps I could do justice to this tragic scene. Instead, all I could do was offer my silent respect and put down these words with her help...

And thank heaven I'm not her.

* * *

Soon after a filling but brief breakfast, we were sent off, escorted by the kasha named Orin and the hell raven who went by Okuu. Both seemed very cheery, despite the generally sour mood of my companions and I. Orin was still pushing that accursed wheelbarrow, though it was at last emptied of its macabre contents. Okuu was whistling happily to herself, lost in her own little world. Orin was leading us, though she said she had only been to our destination a few times, while Okuu had been there far more often.

Kirisame's remaining assistant reminded us that Okuu was more than a little bird brained, which explained the curious choice of leader. Okuu didn't seem to notice the insult, even when Orin confirmed it. We were to take a passage that lead to the Moriya Shrine on Youkai mountain. The experienced and shaken exterminator explained more.

Apparently it's the shrine of that Sanae girl I see from time to time in the village. Her coming from Youkai mountain does a lot to explain her oddities. Something just isn't right with that girl. Orin seemed to hold them in high regard, and explained that Okuu was sometimes called in to help with some experiments of some sort.

I wasn't sure how Okuu could ever be a help with _anything_, but Orin assured us she's actually focused when she gets down to business. This was true enough, as we were to find out soon enough... the Kasha's constant... warnings? Threats? I can't be sure what they were, now.

The kasha's words were unnerving, but we couldn't do much apart from wait. Akyuu took the opportunity to ask some more question she still had, and Orin was happy to answer them. Akyuu was... odd. even though the size of our force was greatly diminished, she seemed as affirmative as ever, confident we'd make it through. If nothing else, her optimism was inspiring, though I wonder now if she wasn't just putting on a show.

We reached the elevator, though it seemed just like a platform in a vertical shaft, both made out of... I couldn't believe it steel? It couldn't be... where could they have gotten so much iron? Then I realized just where we were supposed to be... Youkai Mountain. They must have far more than we at the human village. They must have mined it and refined it. The whole tunnel seemed lined with a mixture of copper and steel... enough metal here to solve any shortages we at the human village would have. I looked to Kirisame's worker, and he seemed to be having similar thoughts, though framed differently.

I felt some combination of envy and rage that these youkai would keep such treasures to themselves, while he saw opportunity. I saw youkai greed and selfishness, hoarding their wealth and spending it on such foolish things. But to Kirisame's assistant, this was a gold mine. If he could set up trade with the youkai on the mountain, he'd doubtless be able to secure a solid metal business. I wish him the best, truly. It would be good to have plows and other tools that would last.

Yet Akyuu was still speaking with the Kasha. It seemed they were discussing Okuu's role in the elevator, and as they were doing so, Okuu snapped out of her absent minded state and spoke. She warned us to stay near the sides of the 'elevator' before rattling off a bunch of numbers and words I didn't understand. Orin just shrugged and gave us an 'I told you so." look.

Looking at Okuu's face, I wasn't so sure she knew what she was doing. After she finished ranting, her face snapped away from the flat, matter of fact form it had been and switched to one of anticipation and glee. Suddenly, in a flash, something happened. When I could see again, her right arm was gone, replaced with a bizarre, long rod. Her feet too, were different. One was covered in stone, and the other had some sort of tiny fairy buzzing around it.

Okuu seemed eager enough to get us on board, but her enthusiastic voice didn't exactly ease our minds. We went anyway, given no real alternatives.

Orin whistled merrily as she rolled her wheelbarrow onto the elevator. Did _anything_ disturb that beast?

Once we were all on the platform a door slammed behind us, and Okuu wasted no time in thrusting the orange rod directly above her, standing in the middle of the platform. Something seemed to gather around it, the heat began to rise, and the power that was growing around the rod seemed eager to destroy whatever it could. A wild, terrifying power as violent as fire and as free as wind.

Suddenly she pointed the rod towards a hole near her feet and the platform shook tremendously, launching upwards. We humans were immediately thrown to the ground, but Orin (with obvious effort) and Okuu (with no trouble at all), remained standing. Orin seemed to be getting wrapped up in Okuu's excitement, clearly in awe of Okuu's power. And it was difficult not to be. The look on Okuu's face was wild, though. I just hoped she stopped when needed.

With the acceleration slowing, and a bit of time, some of us managed to get to our hands and knees, but anything beyond that was impossible. The platform started to get extremely hot, and my hands burned. Looking at the others, they weren't faring much better. The fallen exterminator was on her hands and knees, but the agony on her face was clear. and the young one and Akyuu didn't even seem able to manage that. Only Kirisame's assistant seemed to be mostly alright. His fine gloves seemed to be keeping his hands safe, and he wore thick clothes, like myself... Until a stray thread from his loose outer layer caught flame, leading the blaze back to his body.

The look on his face suddenly changed to one of panic, and he and I looked around. I noticed that while Okuu was still wildly focused on doing whatever it was she was doing, Orin's enthusiastic grin had turned towards Kirisame's assistant. She seemed to have adjusted to the still accelerating elevator... and seemed eager. I looked up, and saw what may have been an opening, above us. Small at first, but growing quickly. Quickly enough? I wasn't sure.

More fires caught; first stray threads, then whole bits of cloth. Kirisame's assistant and myself carried most of the supplies and held firm our positions, though it felt my hands would be seared off. If we lost the packs to the flames, many of the notes that had been taken would be at risk... our entire reason for coming here would be gone.

Orin seemed to be wondering which of us she should take first. She seemed certain we would die, and I couldn't come up with the will to deny it. Okuu hadn't changed at all. She was completely preoccupied with powering the platform, the same manic, uncontrolled expression of ecstasy on her face.

I don't know how long the ride took, but I know it felt like both an eternity and an instant. I might have blacked out, or simply been lost in the pain for a while, but eventually the platform began to slow. I looked up, and Okuu was now pointing her rod towards the sky, blasting incomprehensible amounts of power upward.

At this point, flames licked at all of us, and the platform still wasn't cooling. With the platform slowing, it was possible to stand, though I was the only one who did. Some had lost consciousness, and the others were rolling on the searing floor, trying to extinguish the flames.

Finally, we burst free of the chamber. The platform had almost stopped, and I heard a slamming noise below us. Onbashira surrounded us and seemed to act as a guide for the platform. Okuu seemed disappointed, and Orin, seeing the sorry state of the other passengers seemed to be preparing her cart for a larger load... that damnable cat... would she give us no respite? The platform hung suspended for a moment in the air. That's when it hit me. We were out! It was night, but in the light of the flames and blast of energy Okuu had only recently ceased launching, what happened next was plain as day.

An enormous wave of water rushed in past the Onbashira, dousing the flames and causing huge gouts of steam to erupt from whatever it touched. It scalded our already burned skin, and still the water kept coming, engulfing us swiftly. The women, in a panic, managed to float themselves out of the water with obvious difficulty, but neither of we two remaining porters could swim at all (to say nothing of fact that my companion was unconscious), and the water had clearly risen far above our heads. The pressure was uncomfortable... was more water still being poured in?

Then I saw a girl in a blue dress swim gracefully down towards us, and with no difficulty at all, hauled us up and out of the water. I sputtered out a thanks between gasps for air once I had enough to spare, but she seemed to have walked off already. It seemed she, Okuu, and some others were in some argument. Orin came by, but I shooed her away from Kirisame's assistant.

I surveyed our situation. It seemed the others had passed out soon after clearing the water. We were drenched and badly burned. I didn't realize just how badly burned until the adrenaline started to wear off after about another minute. I joined the others in the sweet reprieve of sleep.

* * *

I'm not sure how long I was unconscious, but when I awoke, I saw the same group of five still arguing. I couldn't see my companions, but I overheard the conversation.

One of them had an imposing presence... I knew immediately that I stood in the presence of a god. No... in the presence of two. There was no mistaking it. While the one who had spoken radiated an aura of majesty, the smaller one next to her wearing a rather odd looking hat had a clear authority herself. And... Sanae stood next to them as well... But then, which was the god of the Moriya Shrine?

Sanae still appeared as she did the last time I saw her. She was much like the magician in the forest... she didn't seem quite human, but neither fully inhuman. Mr. Kirisame had been enraged, of course, when he first heard that description. His anger cooled when when he was reminded that there was another magician who lived there; the puppeteer who sometimes came by to put on performances and sell dolls. Upon recalling Alice and her strange behavior, he had calmed down and couldn't help but agree with the description.

Okuu was being chastised by all three, and Orin was nursing some wounds from a recent battle, it seemed. The girl in blue who had saved me was timidly following the conversation, looking like she wanted to say something, but couldn't stand to interrupt.

The large god spoke accusingly at the hell raven: "The cargo elevator!? I can't believe you! I told you you aren't supposed to take people on it! It's not insulated at all! And the people here can't swim! If the heat of the elevator didn't kill them, the cooling system would! It's a miracle any of them survived."

My heart twisted. "Any of us...? Who... didn't, then?"

Okuu remained in a submissive posture, likewise Orin, still licking her wounds. The others all turned to face me, though the girl in blue quickly moved behind the large god, who spoke to me.

"You're awake already? Well, I suppose your wounds were the least. Be thankful Sanae here was able to heal you."

"Well, miracles of life and healing aren't too hard. I mean, even back home some people managed them. I just wish I could have done more." Sanae said, torn somewhere between pride and humility.

"I'll keep drilling this into this birdbrain's head. Suwako, go ahead and fill him in." The large god said again and launched into another bout of scolding, Sanae occasionally interjecting.

Meanwhile, the smaller god, presumably "Suwako" (Which makes the larger one Moriya, I suppose), moved towards me with a strange bouncy stride. It was so at odds with the aura of authority she gave off that I had to work to restrain a laugh... laughing in the presence of a god is rarely a good idea. The girl in blue walked towards me as well, trying not to draw attention to herself.

"Come on, lighten up." Suwako said as she approached. "You've been through a lot."

I remembered my situation, and grew sour. "The others... how are they?"

"I kind of wish you hadn't asked that so soon. Well, I can see you won't be able to rest until you know." She let out a deep sigh before spilling the news. The girl in blue fidgeted nervously.

"There were only two other survivors... the two young women. The man seems to have drowned, and the oldest woman... her wounds weren't much worse than yours, but it seems she simply didn't have a will to live. Healing the body does nothing if the soul doesn't wish to stay. We kept the Kasha from absconding with the bodies, and we'll send them off properly, but that's all we can do."

I let out a sigh. Only three of us were left? We had thought ourselves so well prepared, yet we had fallen to a third our number.

Suwako looked to the girl in blue, who was quivering now.. "I believe you had something you wished to say, Nitori?"

"I'm sorry! Please forgive me!" This... this was the girl who had saved my life, though...? Was she upset about the death of my drowned companion?

Nitori continued: "There weren't supposed to be people on there! So I used water to cool it... It was a test but there weren't supposed to be people on it! And... and I saw you two, but, but I wasn't fast enough." Nitori's speech sped up and became less coherent as her sobs overcame her speech. Suwako tried to comfort her, but Nitori ran off. She had killed my companion... No... she had tried to save us both. It was that accursed raven. I looked back towards her, as she kneeled and sobbed, submitting to the lectures of Moriya. My anger faded quickly. Perhaps I was simply too tired to be angry.

But it had been an accident. Expecting anything out of the brain of that bird was our mistake. Satori seemed to be confident we would arrive safely, Orin didn't know that was an elevator of death, Okuu forgot, we didn't know. Nitori was repentant, and had only killed indirectly and accidentally. Moriya and her servants tried their best to make the situation right, healing who they could, and punishing those responsible. Any of them could have been lying, but I never really got that impression. As much as I wanted to be angry at someone, the only people we could rightfully blame were ourselves, for being foolish enough to think this would be a journey without casualties.

So there we were, on top of Youkai mountain, with only one exterminator left among us, and she inexperienced at that. I wept for our lost companions and our current situation. I heard Suwako quietly leave, and I kept mourning until I was able to sleep once more.

* * *

When I awoke again, it was well after dawn. Hunger roused me quickly, and I stood, stretched, and looked around. A set of clothes had been set out for me, and looking down at my rather immodest burned rags, I could understand why. After I changed, it seemed the horrors of the previous night were but a distant memory. As I found the others, just starting breakfast, the thought that it had all been a terrible dream vanished. Akyuu and the surviving exterminator had grim expressions, and were eating in silence. Akyuu was wearing a spare set of her own clothes from our packs, but (doubtless a result of all the damage done to our supplies), it seemed the young exterminator also had to borrow some clothing, as she was wearing one of Sanae's shrine maiden outfits.

Akyuu was searching her notes, occasionally scrawling something. She didn't even notice my entry. I recall that her books had been stored in a sturdy chest and waterproofed, but she had probably lost some spare notes she had had on her person. It seemed she was trying to recreate them to distract herself from the situation. We've all heard stories of her perfect memory, and I pray for her sake that those stories are exaggerated.

The young exterminator and myself, however, had no such distractions, and so ate the simple breakfast provided to us in a somber silence. An hour passed before we were interrupted.

Suwako, Moriya and Sanae entered the room. Moriya approached us and bowed deeply. Something about the situation seemed wrong. If anyone should be bowing, it should be us. "I'm sorry for your loss. I'm afraid we've understandably forgone introductions. I am Kanako Yasaka, the god of this shrine."

"I thought you were Moriya? Isn't this the Moriya shrine?"

"It's... it's complicated. We're both aspects of Moriya, you see..." It seemed she was about to go into a lengthy explanation, but Suwako cut her off.

"She's Kanako, and I'm Suwako. We are Moriya. That's probably the best way to put it." So they're part of some family of gods or something that live at this shrine. It seemed straightforward enough to me.

Sanae spoke next. "I'm glad to see my clothes fit you. I'm sorry I didn't have any more casual wear, but this is more fitting for a youkai exterminator anyway, don't you think? Better than the ashes you washed up with." She seemed oblivious to my companion's discomfort at the reminder of last nights events. Suwako and Kanako, however noticed it, and Kanako quickly changed the topic.

"We assume you want to return to the human village. Well, we'll do what we can to help you get down there. I'll manifest at a branch shrine down there to send some people to meet you, and Sanae will help you down the mountain to meet them."

"Yeah, I have some business down there anyway." Sanae blurted out. Suwako gave her a cutting glare, and Sanae, after a moment of reflection, added: "But I'd have been happy to help you anyway, of course." That girl really doesn't have much experience with people, does she? I suppose it isn't her fault, living among gods and youkai like this.

The three left us alone once again. Akyuu seemed to have finished with her notes, and I tried to bolster our spirits.

"We'll make it home for sure. They'll send a group to meet us, and with Sanae joining us, we shouldn't be bothered by the mountain youkai." I looked to Akyuu. "You'll probably even be able to get some more notes on them. You can probably get some good information from our hosts here, too." She seemed a little less somber after this. She wasn't her original cheerful self, but it was closer.

"We thought we knew the risks. But that's just it, isn't it? We can't ever know the risks when dealing with youkai. Even when they mean well... they just aren't human." the exterminator said.

Akyuu nodded and spoke. "You've never participated in a world without this uneasy peace. Perhaps humans and youkai aren't truly compatible, but things a much better now than they used to be. Remember that youkai of jealousy we met? How eager she was to destroy us, simply because we were there? Before the spellcard rules, that's how it was everywhere. It seems that some youkai will simply never change. I'm not sure if any of them _have_."

"Even if things are better, it's still too much! How are we supposed to deal with these monsters? If there's peace, then why? Why did so many of us die?"

Akyuu sighed, a guilty expression on her face. "It's because I underestimated the youkai. I thought we would be fine with such a small group, and getting any more to come would have been difficult. But I expected the underground youkai to be more... receptive. I thought they would welcome the contact. I thought of them as humans. And six people died because of it. Because of me." Tears slowly rolled down her face, and I again tried to console her.

"It's not your fault. In the human village, we've become perhaps too tolerant of youkai. We even have specialty shops for them. To assume that the youkai underground were as humanlike and civilized as those who occasionally come to the village wasn't unreasonable. They're all you've ever really had time to interact with." I tried comforting her, and the exterminator spoke up.

"We exterminators are often warned about that, you know. I heard that the first mission always goes badly... young exterminators like myself are taken in by their human appearance and assume they think like humans. It's just another trick, though... by making us distrust human forms, they make us a little more like them. And when that happens too much... by fighting them too much, you become someone like the Hakurei shrine maiden or Kirisame's daughter, almost more youkai than human. I always thought it was an exaggeration, but..."

We sat and thought on this as the sun arched lazily across the sky, unaware of our troubles, until Suwako came in, indicating that she wished to speak with me alone. The exterminator was reluctant to leave me alone with her, but eventually allowed it.

* * *

We climbed for several hours in relative quiet. The Moriya Shrine was nearly at the summit, but the last part of the climb was always the most dangerous. The going wasn't as hard as I thought it should have been, though. The mountain itself seemed to aid us, giving us footholds and handholds... I swear I even saw some small bushes spring from the solid rock to support us. Not daring to question her motives, I followed her. We reached the summit just as the sun was beginning to dip past the horizon.

As it did so, I moved to wipe the sweat from my brow with my arm, only to notice there was a white snake on it that seemed to be growing by the moment. I panicked and tried to shake it off, but it didn't react at all to my flailing. I noticed its red eyes, next, and a cold fear gripped me. Suwako reached out her arm and said... something. The snake crawled up her arm and down to her feet, where I could see it rejoin several other similar ones, also growing in size. Soon, each was as big as myself... then nearly twice as tall and wide. Suwako stood amidst them, clearly in control of the wriggling mass, and spoke to me.

"I thought as much. I don't suppose you know where you found this one?" I shook my head, in awe at this god. Her presence, previously merely authoritative, now demanded no less respect than Kanako's. With the Mishaguji framing her, she no longer seemed a child, but rather a mighty ruler. To mistake her as a child, or even a minor god would be unthinkable now. To think, I had once thought Kanako the greater god. She consulted in a strange tongue with the Mishaguji, and after while, the sun still setting, she turned her attention back to me.

"It seems he was caught up in the aura of a rabbit. When she blessed you, it seems my friend here took the opportunity and devoured the blessing, taking its place. It seems you've have quite a lot of good luck lately, haven't you?"

"Well, yes. It's a miracle I survived as long as I did, considering what happened to the others. I suppose I owe thanks to... that, then?" I indicated the swarm of snakes slithering behind her.

"In a sense. Consider: was it your good luck that kept you alive? Or their bad luck that killed them? If all their fortune was poor and yours wasn't, it would seem you had good luck, yes?"

I began to feel a bit nervous. "Well, that's... probably true, yes."

"You need to know, then, the nature of the Mishaguji. They are curse gods. It seems this one made an effort to shunt misfortune away from you by cursing most everyone you came near." I couldn't think of anything to say. They had brought me along as a good luck charm. That's why I was here... but I wasn't even good for that?

"It was my fault those people died?"

"No more your fault than the fault of someone unknowingly spreading disease. To be sure, they likely would have died anyway... some of them, at least. The Mishaguji 'helping' you only increased the danger. Had you stayed at home, the expedition would have likely gone better." Her words did little to comfort me, though. How could I ever make it up to their families?

"Sorry to have brought this up, but I needed to reclaim the lost Mishaguji, and you'd have soon afterward found out Their purpose. And I see in you fear. You fear them, and me as their master... as you should. That same fear is why, with this unfortunate incident resolved, there's something you need to see. You're one of the few humans to see this, and indeed, perhaps the only one who will ever truly be able to understand it in its entirety. Though I stand beside you, this sight is yours alone."

Suwako gestured out over the grand view. Never before had I seen all of Gensokyo so clearly. The Forest of Magic, Genbu Swamp, the Bamboo Forest of the Lost... and framing it all, the shimmering veil... the Hakurei Border. To say it was beautiful as the shadows stretched across the land would fail to do it justice. Watching it, I knew I could never forget: as beautiful as those shadows were, they belonged to the youkai. This was their world, more than ours.

I think Suwako was right. Who else could see that view? The youkai and gods who called the mountain their home... people like the shrine maidens, or Kirisame's daughter... those who would never truly fear youkai. No, the feeling of cold fear that wrenched my gut as I saw the world swallowed by the shadows, as the time of the youkai engulfed it, belonged to me and me alone.

It was without comparison... a terrible, yet beautiful fear. Gensokyo is a dangerous place, but one filled with wonders. I've seen some of the best and worst of youkai, and as dangerous as they are, a life without them would seem hollow now. Feeling the fantastic chill that stilled my body and mind even as my heart and panicked thoughts raced... I knew this was something no exterminator could ever experience. If they did, they would never be able to work again.

This was the essence of Gensokyo.


End file.
